There were beads of sweat forming on her forehead and neck. She could hear the uneven sound of her breathing and feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins. This was it. The day she, Hermione Jean Granger, would die. After all she'd been through with her friends, Hermione never thought that her death would be caused by something like this. This was the reason her guard had been down and why she now found herself in such a predicament.

Looking past the great creature in front of her, Hermione saw her wand laying five feet away on the hard, cold ground. She had thought about making an attempt to dive for it, but there was no guarantee she'd get past the hideous monster and the odds did not look great.

Ugh, it was a hideous thing to look at and was even more violent than a nesting-mother Dragon. It was stronger than a Giant and far stupider than a Troll. Yet, it had still beat her, which was the funny thing. The creature advanced towards her. The smell of, what she would imagine to be, rotting flesh and vomit invaded her nostrils. This is it, the exact moment she was about to die. Hermione closed her eyes, conceding to the death she knew was imminent, and whispered one last desperate word.

"Ron."

In that instant, she knew that death had come for her. Then, unexpectedly, Hermione felt someone take her hand in theirs. It felt warm and somehow comforting. Hermione opened her eyes, confusion clouding her brain.

There the monster stood in front of her, disgusting as ever, only a few yards away. Yet, someone inexplicably was also holding her hand. Whipping her head to the side, Hermione found herself face to face with the owner of the hand, a tall man with messy brown hair dressed in a deep blue suit. He was looking at her intently. There was a gleam in his eyes that made Hermione think the man was enjoying himself slightly. But there was also something about his face that made her trust him instantly and completely.

Then he spoke one word to her. A word she would remember for the rest of her life.

"Run."

The monster lunged towards the two of them and the tall, erratic man managed to pull her out of the way just in time. He manoeuvred the two of them passed the hideous creature and made to run through the open door. Hermione managed to snatch her wand up from the ground as they sprinted through to the next room. The roar of the monster was deafening as it attempted to chase after them. Hermione pointed her wand up towards the ceiling above the door they'd just come through. A mixture of rubble and metal fell to the ground, blocking the door and trapping the monster inside.

Not waiting to see if it held the creature, the two of them continued to run through the increasingly sparse rooms. During all the chaos, Hermione's mind was filled with mountains of questions. She longed to know who the strange man was. He seemed to be experienced in this sort of thing, yet he didn't seem like any Wizard she knew. If he did put himself in situations like this often then it was likely he was very powerful. Hermione didn't know for sure, but she certainly wanted to find out. Pulling back she forced the strange man to face her.

"Who exactly are you?" said Hermione, furrowing her brow slightly.

"I'm the Doctor and we've got to run," said the man.

The Doctor grabbed Hermione's hand once more and forced them both towards the exit. Before they had taken two steps, the monster appeared through a door to the left, blocking their escape. Without hesitation, the Doctor ran towards the side door but Hermione could see that the monster was going to catch them regardless unless she did something. Hermione blocked the monster's path and pointed her wand straight at it.

"PROTEGO!" Hermione yelled.

The Doctor stared at Hermione for just a second with an expression of sheer bewilderment. Recovering quickly, he dragged them both through the emergency exit and they emerged onto the little alleyway down the side of the building. They turned right and continued on running down the alleyway, through a few small roads, before finally stopping in another small dead-end road.

Hermione was breathing exceptionally heavily, she wasn't used to running. The Doctor turned towards Hermione with his hands in his pockets and a huge grin on his face. Hermione suddenly noticed that he was leaning against a large, blue police box.

"So," said the Doctor, still smiling at her. "What's your name?"

Hermione blinked twice before realising he was actually real and talking to her. She had begun to wonder whether this entire thing was happening or if she was just experiencing an extremely bad nightmare.

"I'm Hermione. Her-Hermione Granger," said Hermione.

"And, how exactly did you cause that shield thingy, whatsit-me-bob, Hermione Granger," he asked, crossing his arms.

"Well... I..." said Hermione began, not truly sure of what he was asking.

"Because it seemed like you used magic, but that is absolutely impossible, improbable. I mean, it's just illogical," he said.

The Doctor was not really talking to her anymore but rather to himself. He was circling Hermione and he seemed to be appraising her, as though he were trying to find another possible solution.

"I, just, I," said Hermione.

She was thoroughly confused and unable to form words. A sinking feeling went through her heart as apprehension dawned on her.

"Yet, that is the only possible solution," he finished. "You can do magic. You used that wand to save us. It's clearly come from the earth and yet this planet does not have the technology to be this advanced. The question now is how do you do it?"

The Doctor continued to stare at her intently, apparently oblivious to Hermione's obvious discomfort. She knew what she had to do and yet, oddly, this Muggle did not seem like a Muggle at all. Hermione now knew that he was not magical but there was still something about him. This man did not seem to be acting as a normal Muggle would once they had found out that magic exists. Though, that may be because his mental capacity was similar to that of Xenophilius Lovegood's. Hermione watched as the Doctor began to point a screwdriver with a laser on the end of it at her.

"Do you," said Hermione. "I mean, is there anywhere I could take you?"

"Nah, I'm fine. Got her parked right here," said the Doctor, standing up and patting the blue police box.

"Um..."

Hermione was worried now and began racking her brain for excuses to leave. Who would believe a madman anyway?

"Do you want to look inside?" he said, his eyes twinkling.

"Oh... okay," said Hermione, wanting to placate him.

He opened the door and nodded his head towards the entrance. Hermione cautiously moved forwards, intending only to poke her head through the door and gather a quick look. As she reached the door frame, the man smiled encouragingly at her.

He doesn't seem mad.

With one hand resting on the frame of the door, Hermione leant into the room. What she saw was not what she had expected to see. Slowly, she walked further into the cavernous room and stared around at what could not possibly fit inside a small blue box. Running outside she circled the strange box to determine any hidden doorways.

The man merely smiled at her and shrugged slightly, clearly amused by the look on her face. Hermione could feel her eyes widen and her mouth set in an awed 'O'shape. She was unsure why this man had pretended not to know of magic as this was clearly a magical object but she was definitely going to find out. The thing was, Hermione had never before seen nor expected a wizard's dwelling to be that inconspicuous.

"Did you enchant it yourself?" said Hermione.

"Enchant it? What do you mean?" said the Doctor.

"What spell did you use? I've seen tents and cars expanded, but never to this level. You must be an extraordinary wizard. But then why did you pretend not to know of magic?" said Hermione, confusion clouding her voice.

"I wasn't pretending, I'm not a wizard. Magic is just not possible. And yet...here you are."

The two of them surveyed each other sceptically. Hermione could see that he was telling the truth, that he had no idea of magic, and he clearly didn't want to believe in its existence. Yet, there he was. A strange man with a powerful, magical object owned solely by him. The question now was how any of this was possible.

"How does a Muggle, like yourself, come by such a magical artefact? If you're telling the truth, that is."

"A Muggle? What does that mean?" he asked, obviously curious. "And this is no magical object. In fact, she is made purely from technology. Technology you could not possibly begin to understand."

"Technology? Like what Muggles have? And a Muggle is a non-magical human." Hermione paused before continuing. "This has to be magic, it just has to be. There is no way that this blue box could be so large inside without some sort of enchantment. It's just impossible."

"Well, that's what it is. It's not the kind of technology you'd find anywhere on earth, yours is far inferior. Not an insult, just a fact. She's made entirely from technology found on my home planet of Gallifrey. It's the sort of thing that humans do not possess and most likely never will.

"But... you're human."

"Yeah, no I'm not. I'm a Time Lord, the last of my kind, actually. Nice to meet you."